occult

1 of 3

verb

oc·​cult ə-ˈkəlt How to pronounce occult (audio)
ä-
occulted; occulting; occults

transitive verb

: to shut off from view or exposure : cover, eclipse
the light of a star that was about to be occulted … by Uranus itselfJonathan Eberhart
occulter noun

occult

2 of 3

adjective

oc·​cult ə-ˈkəlt How to pronounce occult (audio)
ä-;
ˈä-ˌkəlt How to pronounce occult (audio)
1
: not revealed : secret
deep subterranean occult jealousyJ. C. Powys
2
: not easily apprehended or understood : abstruse, mysterious
occult matters like nuclear physics, radiation effects and the designing of rocketsRobert Bendiner
3
: hidden from view : concealed
occult underground passages
4
: of or relating to the occult
… the occult arts—astrology, palmistry, card reading …Amy Fine Collins
occult practices
5
: not manifest or detectable by clinical methods alone
occult carcinoma
also : not present in macroscopic amounts
occult blood in a stool
occultly adverb

occult

3 of 3

noun

oc·​cult ə-ˈkəlt How to pronounce occult (audio)
ä-;
ˈä-ˌkəlt How to pronounce occult (audio)
: matters regarded as involving the action or influence of supernatural or supernormal powers or some secret knowledge of them
used with the

Examples of occult in a Sentence

Verb occulted their house from prying eyes by planting large trees around it the actor's private life had long been occulted by a contrived public persona Adjective occult practices such as magic and fortune-telling He began to believe he had occult powers.
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
The values given are eclipse obscurations, the fraction of the Sun’s disk occulted by the Moon. Michael Zeiler, Discover Magazine, 23 Feb. 2024 Among them were Norman Lockyer and Jules Janssen, who together studied the spectra of solar prominences that were suddenly visible around the moon’s occulting silhouette. Paul M. Sutter, Scientific American, 15 Feb. 2024 But just a few hours earlier, late on Wednesday night, the nearly Full Moon will occult Mars for skywatchers in most of the U.S. Alison Klesman, Discover Magazine, 7 Dec. 2022 The waning crescent Moon—just 9%-lit—will occult the planet Venus, but only for those in Madagascar. Jamie Carter, Forbes, 22 May 2022 During a full transit, which would last a few minutes, an Earth-size planet would occult the entire white dwarf. Avi Loeb, Scientific American, 30 Oct. 2020 In July, 2017, the object occulted a star, and telescopes observed its tiny shadow passing across the star. Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 7 Nov. 2017 And for some lucky sky-watchers in eastern Brazil and in central and southern Africa, the moon will occult the star. National Geographic, 1 May 2017
Adjective
Speaking of infernal-sounding, pay close attention around the 4:30 mark here, and witness the occult-metal mastery of Mercyful Fate riffsmith Hank Shermann, abetted by his trusty partner Michael Denner. Hank Shteamer, SPIN, 24 Jan. 2023 It’s a determinedly non-jokey supernatural thriller in which a group of Adelaide teens get in way over their heads playing an occult party game. Dennis Harvey, Variety, 22 Jan. 2023 Other screening options include annual fecal occult blood tests which look for blood in the stool. Janelle Chavez, CNN, 19 Jan. 2023 Even Robert Duvall makes an appearance at age 91 as an academic consulted by Gus Landor to shed light on the occult overtones to the murder. Scott Phillips, Forbes, 3 Jan. 2023 This type of occult logic just makes sense to children. Kate Cray, The Atlantic, 4 Jan. 2023 The witches focused on the World Cup represent a wide variety of occult disciplines, more New Age than ancient and Indigenous. Ana Lankes, New York Times, 17 Dec. 2022 Yet the dreams of this obsessively solitary man overflow with spectacles and horrors and occult visions. Sam Sacks, WSJ, 16 Dec. 2022 Curioporium, the occult curiosity shop at 1429 Park Road in Hartford, will host three guests on Dec. 16 to 18. Susan Dunne, Hartford Courant, 1 Dec. 2022
Noun
Mercury moving into Pisces adds intellectual allure to what’s hidden and occult. USA TODAY, 23 Feb. 2024 The two-minute clip for the film, which comes out June 30, sets up its plot: Jones’ goddaughter (played by actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge) wants to get her hand on some occult dial that could change the course of history. Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 7 Apr. 2023 What the internet performs, and what platforms perfect, is an occult crowd summoning that illustrates just how outnumbered and irrelevant the snob really is. Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 7 Mar. 2024 The Devil Rides Out is a supremely creepy occult thriller that treats its subjects with documentary-like precision. Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 16 Oct. 2023 Anger cozied to Western occult religion Thelema with artist Marjorie Cameron and made his film Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (1954) with Cameron and writer Anaïs Nin. Vulture, 24 May 2023 The speculative practices—the financial and cultural forecasting—on which Asher and Whitney have staked their futures would be considered occult forms of divination were white people not the ones engaging in them. Jennifer Wilson, The New Yorker, 2 Feb. 2024 At the same time, the infinity of available emoji has freighted other pictures with occult significance. Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 18 Jan. 2024 Conspiracies, hostile forces, and occult flourishes abound. Inkoo Kang, The New Yorker, 13 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'occult.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Verb

in part back-formation from occultation, in part continuing Middle English occulten "to keep secret, conceal," borrowed from Latin occultāre "to prevent from being seen, conceal, keep secret," frequentative derivative of occulere "to hide from view, conceal" — more at occult entry 2

Adjective

borrowed from Middle French & Latin; Middle French, borrowed from Latin occultus "hidden from sight, secret, esoteric," from past participle of occulere "to hide from view, conceal," from oc-, assimilated variant of ob- ob- + -culere, from a verb base *cel- "hide," going back to Indo-European *ḱel- "cover, conceal" — more at conceal

Noun

noun derivative of occult entry 2

First Known Use

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

circa 1513, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1888, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of occult was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near occult

Cite this Entry

“Occult.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/occult. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

occult

1 of 3 verb
oc·​cult ə-ˈkəlt How to pronounce occult (audio)
ä-
: to shut off from view : cover, eclipse

occult

2 of 3 adjective
oc·​cult ə-ˈkəlt How to pronounce occult (audio) ä- How to pronounce occult (audio)
ˈäk-əlt
1
: beyond understanding : mysterious
2
: of or relating to supernatural forces

occult

3 of 3 noun
ə-ˈkəlt How to pronounce occult (audio) ä- How to pronounce occult (audio)
ˈäk-əlt
: matters thought to involve the influence of supernatural forces

Medical Definition

occult

adjective
: not manifest or detectable by clinical methods alone
occult carcinoma
also : not present in macroscopic amounts
occult blood in a stool specimen
fecal occult blood testing
compare gross sense 1b

More from Merriam-Webster on occult

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